Knock-down door buck with folding door guide means



March 7, 1961 s.'sK1 AR KNOCK-DOWN DOOR BUCK WITH FOLDING DOOR GUIDEMEANS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 18, 1958 FIG. 2

FIG. I

INVENTOR. Jmvazz Jiez 42 ir A. I

March 7, 1961 s. SKLAR 2,973,809

KNOCK-DOWN DOOR BUCK WITH FOLDING DOOR GUIDE MEANS Filed Aug. 18, 1958FIG.5

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 fa/wan Jiez 42 grroe/vaya' United States PatentKNOCK-DOWN DOOR BUCK WITH FOLDING DOOR GUIDE MEANS Samuel Sklar, 63153Alberton St., Rego Park, NY.

Filed Aug. 18, 1958, Ser. No. 755,608

6 Claims. (Cl. 160-296) scribed and door buck constructions which shallcom-- prise three preformed parts inexpensive to manufacture andrequiring relatively unskilled labor for assembly and installation,which preformed parts in knock-down condition shall require a minimum ofshipping space and shall permit easy and rapid installation on theframed doorway after the plaster or plasterboard is in place andfinished, which shall be formed with a flange for contacting the plasteror plasterboard as a finished joint therewith, which door buck shall beparticularly suitable for use on one sided doorways, that is, where onlyone side of the doorway is normally exposed to view so as to require afinished appearance, such as, on closets, and which shall provide animproved arrangement for hanging single or double folding doorsincluding integrally formed guide means in the head piece of the doorbuck cooperating with a guide roller mounted on the free end of suchfolding doors, which guide roller shall be pivotally mounted in animproved fashion for controlling and guiding the folding movement of thedoor, which installation shall be rugged in construction and practicalto a high degree in use.

Other objects of the invention will in part be obvious and in parthereinafter pointed out.

The inventionaccordingly consists of features of construction,combination of elements and arrangement of parts which will beexemplified in the construction hereinafter disclosed, the scope of theapplication of which will be indicated in the claims following.

In the accompanying drawing in which an illustrative embodiment of theinvention is shown:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a portion of a wall having a doorwaytherein in which is installed a threepiece buck embodying the invention,a single-type folding door being indicated in broken lines.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken on line 2--2 in Fig. 1showing details of the headpiece fitted over the plaster finish on afront side of the wall and secured to the horizontal lintel of thedoorway; and also the position of the door guide roller fitting withrespect to the guide track when a folding door is in closed position.

Fig. 3 is an exploded view of the corner construction of the door buckembodying the invention.

Fig. "4 is an end view of the buck embodying the invention with portionsof wall and door framework omitted, parts being broken away to showinterior construction.

I Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken on line 5-5 in Fig. 1 showing detailsof the buck construction, a folding door and guide roller mountingdevice being shown in closed Fig; 6 is a sectional view taken in asimilar manner to Fig. 5 but through the opposite door post showing thefolding door and guide roller mounting device in full open position, thefolding door being indicated in broken lines in a partly closed positionwith parts of the head piece in phantom.

Fig. 7 is an enlarged fragmentary front elevational view of the buck andfolding door embodying the invention, parts being broken away to showinterior construction, and

Fig. 8 is a top perspective view of the free end of the folding door andguide roller mounting device removed from the guide track of theheadpiece.

Referring in detail to the drawings, 10 denotes an improved folding doorinstallation constructed to' embody the invention seen in Figs. 1 and 7to include a door buck 11 mounting a folding door 20. Door buck 11 asshown in Figs. 1, 4 and 7 comprises three knock-down preformedinterfitted parts, namely, a horizontal member or headpiece 12 and apair of vertical members in the form of hinge-post jamb 17 and oppositejamb 18.

Headpiece 12 as best seen in Figs. 2, 3 and 4 may be formed of sheetmetal into a channel shaped intermediate portion 13, a pair of oppositecorner pieces 14, a pair of tab members 15 and a pair of angle pieces16. Intermediate portion 13 has a front wall 13a upstanding from bottomwall 13b and a low rear wall 130 opposite front wall 13a also upstandingfrom bottom wall 13b. The top free end of front wall 13a is formed withan inturned flange 13d. If desired, a raised border 131: may be providedadjacent inturned flange 13d for decorative as well as strengtheningpurposes. As seen in Figs. 2, 4 and 5 bottom Wall 1312 is formed with acentrally located longitudinally extending slot 13 serving as a guidemeans or trackway for the folding door guide roller 21a in the mannerhereinafter more fully described. If desired the side edges of slot 13may have upturned flanges 13g providing track surfaces for engaging saidroller 21a.

Corner pieces 14 are each formed with a front wall or face 14a ofsubstantially square dimensions sized to conform to the width of frontwall 13a and having inturned flanges 14b and raised border 14 along twoad jacent edges thereof conforming to and forming extensions of flange13d and border 132 of intermediate portion 13. Tab members 15 each havea body portion 15a which may be sized and shaped to underlie cornerpiece front wall 1 4a and suitably secured thereto as by spot weld 15bshown in Fig. 4. Aligning tabs 15c and 15d extend from two adjacentsides of body portion 15a and are located to project beyond the twoadjacent edges 14d opposite the edges carrying inturned flanges 14b,aligning tabs 15d extending downwardly as an element'of a telescopinginterfitting connection between opposite ends of headpiece 12 and upperends of jambs 17 and 18. Tabs extending horizontally behind intermediateportion front wall 1311 are spot welded as at 15e thereto, shown in Fig.2, permanently and rigidly attaching corner pieces 14 to the oppositeends of intermediate portion 13 as corners for headpiece front wall 13a.Aligning tabs 15d are each formed with an inwardly tapering outer edge15] and a through opening 15g adjacent the latter, the purpose of whichwill hereinafter more fully be described in connection with the assemblyand installation of door buck 11.

The other or transverse elements of each of said interfitting connectionbetween headpiece 12 and jambs 17 and 18 are a pair of downwardlyextending tabs 16aterminating opposite ends of intermediate portionbottomwall 13b. Said transverse tabs may be: integrally formed withbottom wall 13b or, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4, m'ay be suitably attachedtosaidbottom wall-13b byproviding said tabs 16a as one arm of anglepieces 16, the other arm 16b being welded at 160 to bottom wall 13b.

Jambs 17 and 18, in a manner similar to intermediate portion 13, may beformed of sheet metal as channel shaped members which are identical incross's'ection having front walls 17a and 18a and narrow rear walls 17cand 180 extending from opposite edges of side walls 17b and 18b,respectively. The edges of front walls 17a and 18a opposite side walls17b and 18b are inturned to provide flanges 17d and 18d, respectively.Where raised borders 13c and 14c are provided on headpiece 12,conforming raised borders 17c and 18:? may be formed on front walls 17:!and 18a adjacent flanges 17d and 13d, respectively. Iambs 17 and 18 haveopen opposite ends for selectively slipping over tabs 15d and 16a toform said interfitting connection with the opposite ends of headpiece12. Said opposite ends are squared off, that is, have edges 17f and 18],respectively, extending at right angles with respect to the longitudinalaxes of jambs 17 and 18 for standing flat on flooring F and alsoabutting downwardly facing edges 14a of corner pieces 14. Hingepost jamb17 may be provided with a pair of door hinges 19 mounted on side wall17b by welding hinge member 19a thereto at preferably equal distancesfrom each end of jamb 17. Thus jambs 17 and 18 are interchangeable byinversion from right to left door hanging position.

Holes 13/1, 17g and 18g may be provided and suitably spaced along raisedborders 13c, 17e and 18e, respectively to receive fastening screws 11a,said holes, if desired, being formed to countersink the conical heads ofscrews 11a as is clear from Fig. 2.

Folding door 20 may be of any conventional construction shown in Figs.5, 6, 7 and 8 to comprise two equally sized sections 20a and 20b joinedtogether by hinges 20c, door section 20a being hingedly mounted onhinge-post jamb 17 by attachment to hinge member 19b to open in afrontward direction with respect to buck 11. Door section 20b foldsagainst section 20a in the well understood manner and is suitably guidedfrom closed to open position by guide roller 21a, the latter engaging inguide trackway 13 and being carried by guide roller mounting device 21attached to top edge 20d adjacent the free vertical edge 204 Guideroller mounting device 21 is best shown in Figs. 7 and 8 as having amounting plate 21b formed with spaced openings 21c for receiving screws21d for attachment to top edge 20d of door section 20b, edge 20:! beingcut away or recessed at 201 to seat device 21 below the level thereof. Aroller arm 21 is pivoted adjacent one end thereof to plate 21b by asuitable pin 21a for limited swinging movement between a pair of stoppins 21g and 21h upstanding from plate 21b and carries guide roller 21aadjacent the other end thereof mounted for rotation on an upstandingsuitable stub shaft 211'.

The utility of the invention will now be apparent. Door buck 11 isutilized in a manner somewhat similar to my improved four position doorbuck described in Patent No. 2,799,370, granted July 16, 1957, forKnockdown Door Buck Construction. Preparatory to installation of buck11, a doorway is framed in a wall W with vertical studs S and horizontallintel L in the well understood manner to predetermined dimensionscorresponding to the size of buck 11 to be used. Wall W may then befinished on the front side with plaster or plasterboard P extendingsubstantially to the edge of the framed doorway.

Buck 11, delivered on the job in three-piece knockdown condition, isthen simultaneously installed and assembled with a minimum of labor andskill by first positioning headpiece 12 so that the upper free edge ofrear wall 130 of intermediate portion 13 abuts lintel L, the freoed geof flange 13d abuts the surface of plaster or wall 13bis horizontallylevel the latter and tabs 16a engage in the open end thereof andthereafter jambs 17 and 18 are brought to the vertical with the underand upper end edges 17f and 18] squarely resting on floor F and abuttingdownwardly facing edges 14d of corner pieces 14, respectively. in thisposition jamb side walls 17b and 18b are in right angular alignment withheadpiece bottom wall 13b forming framing portions for folding door 20.The installation of buck 11 is then completed by securing headpiece 12and jambs 17 and 18 in said interfitted relation to lintel L andvertical studs S by means by said fastening screws 11a.

Folding door 20 previously fitted with guide roller mounting device 21seated in recess 20f may then be hung on hinges 19 after guide roller21a is properly located in trackway 13f. Where desired, a positiveinterconnection between headpiece 12 and jambs 17 and 18 may beprovided. To this end openings 17g of tabs 15d and the holes or openings17g and 18g adjacent the squared cnd 17f and 18f are located to alignwith each other when the parts are assembled, as in Fig. 4, forreceiving fastening screws 11a therethrough.

The operation of folding door 20 with guide roller 21a will now beclear. When folding door 20 is in fully closed position, that is, whendoor sections 20a and 20b are disposed in coplanar relation to eachother framed by headpiece bottom wall 13b and jamb side walls 17b and18b, with front facing surfaces of said sections 20!! and 29bsubstantially in coplanar relation to front walls 13a, 14a, 17a and 18aof buck 11, roller arm 21 abuts stop pin 21g and extends towardhinge-post jamb 17, partially overlying mounting plate 21b as shown inFigs. 5, 7 and 8. As folding door 20 is opened, by pulling handle 20goutwardly and toward hinge-post jamb 17, roller arm 21 pivots on pin 21ain a clockwise relation with respect to plate 21b as observed from Fig.6, while roller 21a moves along trackway 13f from right to left untilfolding door 20 reaches its fully open position at which point doorsection 20b is folded against section 20a and roller arm 21f is in anextended position with respect to plate 21b and abuts stop pin 2111. Bypushing handle 213g in the opposite direction towards jamb 18 door 20 isguided to the closed position shown in Fig. 7. A suitable latching meansof any well known construction (not shown) for retaining door 20 inclosed position may be provided for manipulation by doorknob 20/1 toengage a suitable latchplate formed in side wall 18b of jamb '18 in theconventional manner.

As is clear from Figs. 2 and 7, headpiece rear wall not only providesalong with rear walls and a rear finished abutting closure but alsoserves as a means for properly spacing bottom wall 13b from lintel L topermit roller 21a to extend upwardly into and through slot 13) so thatdoor top edge 20d will neatly close below bottom wall 13b therebyeliminating any necessity of grooving lintel L to accommodate roller21a.

To facilitate prefabrication of headpiece 12, corner pieces 14 may bemade bilaterally symmetrical with respect to the diagonal axis passingthrough the upper finished corner thereof, as seen in Fig. 3, permittingidentical corner pieces 14 to be utilized as both right and leftcorners. Thus by merely rotating the left corner piece 14 from theposition shown in Fig. 3 through 90 the same becomes a right cornerpiece. In so doing tab 150 becomes tab 15d and the former is thereforealso provided with a tapered outer edge.,and a through openingcorresponding to edge 15f and opening 15g of tab 15a as clearly shown inFig. 3.

It will be apparent that folding door 20 may be hung in the drawings bjambs 17, andyl8 to open from the left as well as from the right asshown.

folding doors, one set of doors hung on both right and left jambs andarranged to join in closed position at the center of the doorway in thewell known manner. In such double folding door installations twohinge-post jambs 17 are utilized and headpiece 12 simply lengthened toaccommodate the increase in doorway width with trackway 13) extendingjust short of the length of intermediate portion 13, that is, as in thesingle folding door installation shown in Fig. 5, terminating atopposite ends thereof at the inward edges of welded arms 16b of tabangle pieces 16.

It is thus seen that there is provided an improved folding doorinstallation of the character described comprising a three-pieceknock-down door buck with folding door guide means in which the severalobjects of this invention are achieved and which is Well adapted to meetthe conditions of practical use.

As various possible embodiments might be made of the above invention andas various changes might be made in the embodiment above set forth, itis to be understood that all matters herein set forth or shown in theaccompanying drawings are to be interpreted as illustrative and not in alimiting sense.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent:

1. A folding door installation of the character described comprising athree-piece preformed door buck having an integrally formed guide rollertrackway, a folding door hinged on said door buck and a guide rollerdevice mounted on a free edge of the door and engaging said trackway,said three-piece door buck being formed as a knock-down unit including aheadpiece and a pair of channel-shaped jambs of identicalcross-sectional configuration having opposite open ends squared off forselectively standing flat on a supporting flooring surface and formedwith front and rear walls extending from opposite sides of a side Wall,said headpiece-having an intermediate channel-shaped portion and a pairof opposite corner pieces, said intermediate portion being formed withfront and rear Walls upstanding from opposite sides of a bottom wall,said headpiece intermediate portion and jamb front walls having inwardlybent flanges extending from the free edge thereof to contact a buildingwall, said corner pieces each being formed with a front wall sized tofit as extensions of said intermediate portion and jamb front walls andhaving inwardly bent flanges on two adjacent edges forming cornerextensions of said intermediate portion and jamb flanges, a, pair ofaligning tabs extending laterally from the rear side of said cornerpiece front walls along the adjacent edges thereof opposite said flangededges, one of said tabs being welded to the rear side of saidintermediate portion front wall, the other of said tabs forming anelement of an interfitting connection between said headpiece and theopen squared off ends of the said jam'bs, a third tab forming the otherelement of said interfitting connection downwardly extending from eachopposite end of said headpiece intermediate portion bottom wall at rightangles to said second mentioned tabs, said intermediate portion bottomwall being formed with a longitudinally extending guide track, saidguide roller device having a guide roller positioned to slide along saidguide track and swingably mounted on a pivoted arm for guiding saidfolding door from a closed to an open position.

2. A folding door installation of the character described comprising athree-piece preformed door buck having an integrally formed guide rollertrackway, a folding door hinged on said door buck and a guide rollerdevice mounted on a free edge of the door and engaging said trackway forguiding the door from a closed tandem relation to an open foldedposition, said guide roller device including a mounting plate secured tothe top edge of the door adjacent said free edge thereof and an armpivoted adjacent one end to said plate to swing in a plane parallel tothe plate and carrying a guide roller adjacent the opposite end mountedfor 6 rotation on an axis perpendicular to said plane, and a stop meansupstanding from said plate for limiting the swinging movement of saidarm between a jack-knifed relation to the plate when the doors are insaid closed position to an extendedrelation when the doors are in saidopen position.

3'. A preformed headpiece for a knock-down door buck constructioncomprising an intermediate elongated channel-shaped portion formed withfront and rear walls upstanding from opposite sides of a bottom wall,said front wall having an inwardly bent flange extending from the topfree edge thereof for contacting a building finished wall surface, apair of corner pieces each having a front wall and inwardly bent flangeson two adjacent edges thereof, one corner piece being attached to' eachopposite end of said intermediate portion in front wall and inwardlybent flange alignment relation, said corner pieces each having a tabmember attached to the rear side of said front wall, said tab memberhaving a pair of tabs extending at right angles to each other beyond thetwo adjacent edges of the front wall opposite said flanged adjacentedges, one of said tabs extending behind the intermediate portion frontWall forming said attachment thereto, the other of said tabs extendingdownwardly below said intermediate portion bottom wall forming anelement of a telescoping interfitting connection between the headpieceand a jamb of said buck, an outer edge of said other tab being taperedto permit assembly of said interfitting connection, and another pair ofdownwardly extending tabs terminating opposite ends of said intermediateportion bottom wall at right angles to said last mentioned tab formingthe other ele ments of said telescoping interfitting connection.

4. A folding door installation of the character de scribed mounted in aframed out doorway having a hori- Zontally extending lintel, comprisinga three-piece preformed door buck having an integrally formed guideroller trackway, said three-piece door buck being formed as a knock-downunit including a headpiece having opposite ends formed with downwardlyextending interconnecting means and a pair of channel-shaped jarnbs ofidentical cross-sectional configuration having opposite open endssquared off for selectively standing flat on a supporting flooringsurface and telescopingly engaging said interconnecting means, saidheadpiece having a channel-shaped intermediate portion formed with frontand rear walls upstanding from opposite sides of a bottom wall, saidfront wall being relatively-higher than said rear wall, said bottom wallhaving a longitudinal slot cut out forming said guide roller trackway, afolding door hinged on said door buck and a guide roller device mountedon a free edge of the door and engaging said trackway for guiding thedoor from a closed tandem relation to an open folded position, saidguide roller device including a mounting plate secured to the top edgeof the door adjacent said free edge thereof and an arm pivoted adjacentone end to said plate to swing in a plane parallel to the plate andcarrying a guide roller adjacent the opposite end mounted for rotationonan axis perpendicular to said plane, said headpiece rear wall extendingin right angular abutment to said lintel and spacing said headpiecebottomwall and slotfrom the lintel to accommodate said roller andprovide a neatly fitting door closure.

5. A folding door installation comprising a threepiece preformed doorbuck having an integrally formed guide roller track, said three-piecedoor buck being formed as a knock-down unit including a headpiece havingopposite ends formed with downwardly extending interconnecting means anda pair of channel-shaped jambs of identical cross-sectionalconfiguration having opposite open ends squared, off for selectivelystanding being formed with front and rear walls extending from oppositesides of a side wall, said headpiece including an intermediate elongatedchannel-shaped portion formed with front and rear walls upstanding fromopposite sides of a bottom wall, said jamb and headpiece front wallshaving inwardly bent flanges extending from the free edges thereof forcontacting a building finished wall surface, a pair of corner pieceseach having a front wall sized to fit as extensions of'said intermediateportion and jamb front walls and having inwardly bent flanges on twoadjacent edges forming corner extensions of said intermediate portionand jamb flanges, said corner pieces each having a tab member attachedto the rear side of said front wall, said tab member having a pair oftabs extending at right angles to each other beyond the two adjacentedges of the front wall opposite said flanged adjacent edges, one ofsaid tabs extending behind the intermediate portion front wall formingsaid attachment thereto, the other of said tabs extending downwardlybelow said intermediate portion bottom wall forming an element of saidinterconnecting means, an outer edge of said other tab being tapered topermit assembly of the headpiece with said jambs, and another pair ofdownwardly extending tabs terminating opposite ends of said intermediateportion bottom wall at right angles to said last mentioned tab formingthe other elements of said interconnecting means.

6. The preformed headpiece defined in claim 3 in which said corner piecefront walls are square in contour and said corner pieces and tab membersare bilaterally symmetrical with respect to a diagonal axis to provideinterchangeability thereof.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS821,201 Taylor May 22, 1906 1,612,497 Dodge Dec. 28, 1926 1,612,499Etheredge Dec. 28, 1926 1,723,281 Levy Aug. 6, 1929 1,723,991 Baum Aug.13, 1929 2,043,174 Jacobson June 2, 1,936 2,230,475 Albach et al. Feb.4, 1941 2,703,140 Bonawit Mar. 1, 1955 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,051,536 FranceJan. 18, 1954

